In truth, it wasn't that Shinnosuke was lonely, but that Gekko Chizan was genuinely better than him at teaching certain subjects.
For example—stealth, ambushes—good grief, that guy was a grandmaster.
Heaven knows whether he spent every day doing sneaky things; otherwise, how could he be so skilled?
Upon hearing the name Gekko Chizan, Namikaze Minato immediately got a headache. The first thing that came to mind was that twenty million ryō expense.
Twenty million ryō—selling himself wouldn't even be worth that much.
Gekko Chizan: "Stop messing around. Your head would absolutely be worth a lot on the black market!"
"He's carrying out a mission right now—you know how important building the intelligence network is."
"Pay a bit more attention to the ANBU side. If it really won't work, have the Third-advisor help you?"
Shinnosuke immediately protested—listen to that, listen to that—are those words a human would say?
Let his old man come help him? Would that really be help? More likely, he'd get lectured together with him.
"Hehehe, forget it. I'll just rely on my own luck."
Leaving behind that sarcastic remark, Shinnosuke directly used the Body Flicker and ran. He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he'd be pissed to death by the current Hokage.
After driving Shinnosuke away, Namikaze Minato laughed heartily.
...
Land of Hot Water, Hundred Flowers Township. Gekko Chizan stepped out of the bathhouse feeling incomparably refreshed. With his exceptional eyesight and vigilance, he was very aware that his movements had already been noticed along the way.
At this moment, he finally felt satisfied—look, this handsome face of his had finally been recognized.
"Yo, isn't this my teacher?"
"What, finally willing to come out?"
"Hehehe, if your wife found out about this scene, I wonder if she'd roast you into a mummy."
Gekko Chizan had just stretched after leaving the bathhouse when he heard a familiar voice.
He saw Mei holding a bouquet of fresh flowers as she walked toward him.
"Heh, forget-me-not. The flower language is longing. What—are you missing your teacher?"
"Or are you missing that masked Kakashi?"
A disciple teasing her master—good grief, this was turning the heavens upside down.
But Terumī Mei had probably forgotten who her teacher was. When Gekko Chizan teased others, Mei didn't even know where she was yet.
And now she dared tease him—hmph, she didn't want to survive in this world anymore.
"Tch! Stinky teacher, you sure know a lot."
"You even know flower language so well. No wonder Yugito said that although you're rotten to the core, you've got a lot of ink in your belly."
"So many flowery thoughts."
Mei hadn't expected that Gekko Chizan would even know flower language. Even a beautiful girl like her only learned about the meanings of various flowers after opening a flower shop.
Yet Gekko Chizan, a rough old man, actually knew these things—how strange.
"Hmph, I know a lot more than that."
"You've probably already guessed why I'm here."
"Have to say, you've done much better than Yugito. That crazy girl—once she went to the Land of Grass, it was just messing around."
Gekko Chizan looked at Mei with appreciation. Not bad—very good.
Worthy of being the future Fifth Mizukage. With this kind of mindset paired with strength, who else in the vast Kirigakure Village could it be but her?
"I guessed it—checking on the establishment of the intelligence network, right?"
"The situation in the Land of Hot Water is relatively much simpler. I used the flower shop as cover, and at present, I've already brought all intelligence from the entire Land of Hot Water under control."
Seeing Mei's confident expression, Gekko Chizan suddenly had the urge—yeah—to shatter that confidence.
Once such a mischievous thought appeared, it was hard to suppress. Without thinking, he spoke.
"If that's the case, then let me test you."
"I've heard that Yugakure Village has a peculiar organization called the Jashin Cult."
"Do you know its whereabouts?"
Mei's confident expression instantly stiffened. The Jashin Cult? What was that?
She'd never heard of it. Unwilling to accept it, she racked her brains, digging through her memories—but there wasn't the slightest impression of any Jashin Cult.
"Hey, bastard teacher, you didn't just make up some Jashin Cult to deliberately suppress me, did you?"
"I've been in the Land of Hot Water for so long and never heard of any Jashin Cult."
"If you want me to be less arrogant, just say it. No need to specially fabricate something that doesn't exist at all."
Mei looked at Gekko Chizan with a face full of disdain. She felt this was just her teacher making things up.
But Gekko Chizan spat at her.
"Your intelligence work isn't thorough enough, and you dare suspect me?"
"I'm telling you, this is a cult of the Land of Hot Water. Its followers all worship an evil god."
"Extremely evil."
Hearing Gekko Chizan's firm tone, Terumī Mei immediately lost her confidence.
Could there really be such a sect?
Impossible. The name alone sounded like an evil cult. Yugakure Village had transformed from a war village into one far removed from war—how could such a sect exist?
"No need to doubt it. Look slowly."
"Once you find any clues about this sect, notify me immediately."
Mei nodded, memorizing the words "Jashin Cult," planning to send people to gather intelligence on it as soon as she got back.
Suddenly, Terumī Mei thought of something and put on a sly smile.
"Teacher, tell me honestly—did you do something shady in Kumogakure some time ago?"
"Otherwise, why would Kumogakure go into lockdown again?"
"I heard that important financial assets in Kumogakure were damaged. Tsk tsk—they say it was done by the Raikage himself, but why do I find that so hard to believe?"
If Mei hadn't mentioned it, Gekko Chizan would've almost forgotten about Kumogakure. Thinking about the Fourth Raikage waking up to find that the cabinet containing important documents and forbidden techniques was gone—and that his whole body was black like charcoal—would he die of rage?
"Don't spout nonsense. I just went to look for a forbidden technique. Who would go out of their way to provoke that brute?"
Though he said that, Gekko Chizan's grin was about to split his face, making Mei nod repeatedly in her heart.
Case solved—the tragedy of Kumogakure was indeed planned by her teacher.
After all, back in Takigakure Village, Gekko Chizan had said he was going to Kumogakure, and she'd already felt something was fishy.
She just never imagined—if he didn't move, fine, but once he did, it was earth-shaking.
"Alright, seeing that everything's fine on your end puts me at ease."
"For the next period of time, I probably won't come by. Work hard on your own. Oh, right?"
"Do you have enough money? If not..."
The moment Terumī Mei heard the word money, her eyes lit up. Ever since running the flower shop, she'd discovered she kind of liked the feeling of earning money.
But Gekko Chizan's next sentence made her feel—yeah, she'd overthought it.
"Earn it yourself!"